When cyclones aren't directly threatening communities in the Kimberley and Pilbara, they can provide some much loved opportunities that locals may wait for years to enjoy. There's surfing the cyclone swell at Cable Beach or wake-boarding behind a four-wheel-drive on a normally dusty road. But birdwatchers also look forward to a few days of exceptional sites when a cyclone is near.

The developing tropical cyclone Rusty has already provided some excitement for twitchers at the Broome Bird Observatory (BBO). The BBO Warden, Kathrina Southwell, has embraced the gusty wet conditions and the birds that come with it.

"Whenever there's a cyclone off the coast, we love to go and visit the Port of Broome because you get all sorts of seabirds coming that are getting blown in from the storm." she says.

And they've had a bird spectacle right over their facility near Broome on the shore of Roebuck Bay.

"It was just like nonstop visible migration of masked woodswallows. There was about 3060 of them. One of my assistant wardens...was counting every single bird that was flying over." Ms Southwell says, "It was almost like an unbroken band for three-and-a-half hours."

The birds are able to recognise that the cyclone poses a threat, and while some birds do die as a result of the severe storms, many are able to avoid the danger by making unusual journeys.

"I guess they're just like people really and they'll try and find somewhere nice and quiet to hide."

Broome and North Western Australia is renowned for rare bird sightings, partly for its proximity to Asia and partly because of the potential for tropical storms to bring birds to the mainland that aren't normally known to the country.

Ms Southwell says "There's people all around the place at the moment with their binoculars out trying to find this lesser black-backed gull because it's the first sighting of one in Australia. So it's quite exciting for birdos."

Get a sense of the excitement of cyclone birdwatching by listening to Kathrina Southwell talk to Vanessa Mills on ABC Kimberley Mornings.